Packaging machine



Aug. 5, 1958 L. WONS IDLER PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Jime 26, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 5, 1958 L. WQNSIDLER PACKAGING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1956 L. wObismLER PACKAGING MACHINE Aug. 5, 1958 Filed June 26, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 5, 1958 L. WON8IDLER 2,845,763

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug. 5, 1958 L. WONSIDLER 2,845,763

PACKAGING MACHINE vFiled June 26 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 WONSIDL'ER PACKAGING momma e Sheets-Sheet e Aug. s, 1958 Filed June 26, 1956 United States Patent PACKAGING MACHlNE Llewellyn Wonsidler, Doylestown, Pa.

Application June 26, 1956, Serial No. 593,936

16 Claims. (Cl. 53-157) This invention relates in general to equipment for packaging a series of objects and for stacking objects to be packaged in such fashion that the objects in a stack are separated from each other by at least one layer of thin flexible sheet material.

An important object of the invention is the provision of a packaging machine adapted to rapidly and automatically associate each of a series of objects with a piece of sheet pckaging material and deliver the series of objects and associated pieces of sheet material in a manner to facilitate further handling thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision, in a machine of the kind just mentioned, of simple and relatively foolproof mechanism for supplying a run of sheet material upon which the objects to be packaged may be placed in a series, for advancing the run and repeatedly severing the end portion thereof so as to provide a series of objects each associated with a piece of sheet material, and for accumulating, counting and boxing the series of objects and associated pieces.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be clear from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a machine according to the invention with certain parts appearing diagrammatically for the sake of clarity;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation generally similar to the upper portion of Figure 1 but on an enlarged scale as compared to Figure 1, this view showing in detail certain of the parts shown diagrammatically in Figure l, and showing the parts in neutral or starting position;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an end elevation looking toward the right in Figure l but on the scale of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken generally on the line 55 of Figure 3, this view showing the parts in the starting position of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing the parts in advanced position, i. e., at the end of the stroke toward the left; Figure 7 is a view similar to Figures 5 and 6 but showing the parts in an intermediate position, i. e., in a position during travel of the parts toward the right from the position of Figure 6 toward the starting position of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken generally on the line 8-8 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken generally on the line 9 of Figure 2 but on an enlarged scale as compared with Figure 2;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken generally on the line 10-10 of Figure 2 and showing three portions of the equipment in the relative positions they assume in Figure 2, the three portions in Figure 10 being interconnected by dashed arrows which indicate the general path of travel of the objects being packaged;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary side elevation somewhat ice similar to the upper left-hand portion of Figure 2 but showing a modification of the invention, this view showing the modified equipment in the extreme right-hand position; and

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 11 but showing the modified equipment in the extreme left-hand position.

Preliminarily it is pointed out that, although the invention is useful in packaging a wide variety of objects with sheet material of many different kinds, the invention is particularly well adapted to packaging meat patties, chops, steaks, etc. with sheet material in the form of waxed paper. The drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention for packaging hamburger patties.

Referring especially to the general assembly view of Figure l, the packaging machine includes a patty-formationunit H, a patty ejector E adapted to sequentially eject patties downwardly onto a run of paper R conducted over the surface of a supporting table T and advanced stepwise by means of a feeding carriage FC, severing means K for severing the end portions of the run, gate mechanism G for receiving patties and the papers severed by the severing means and for assembling same into stacks, and a carton turntable S for bringing cartons into position to receive stacks ejected from the gate G, the whole assembly being controlled by control means C to assure operation of the various components in phase.

The patty-formation mechanism H includes a hopper 2% fed with ground meat by the conveyor 21, a pair of pocketed oscillatory rolls 22-22 (see Figures 5, 6 and 7) mounted on shafts carrying gears 35 and 36, a reciprocating mold plate 23 having a cavity 24 (see Figure 5) in which the patties P are formed when the plate is re tracted toward the right with the cavity beneath the exit from the rolls 2222, the patty ejector E adapted to knock the patties out of the mold cavity 24 when the mold plate is advanced to the left, and drive means 25 oscillating the rolls, reciprocating the mold plate and actuating the ejector.

Drive means 25, as shown in Figure 2 include a motor 26 and gear reduction unit 27 to the shaft of which a crank disk 28 is secured. Link 29 interconnects a pin on crank disk 28 with crank 30 secured to shaft 31 journalled in housing 32. A drum 33 is mounted for rotation on shaft 31 and the drum 33 is provided with a gear segment 34 meshing with gear 35 which, in turn, meshes with gear 36.

It is thus seen that rotation of crank disk 28 will effect oscillation of the crank 30 and shaft 31 once for each revolution of the crank disk 28.

An arm 37 is secured to shaft 31 to oscillate therewith and, during motion of arm 37 in counter-clockwise direction (when viewed in Figure 2) the arm 37 engages a lug 40 protruding from the drum 33 and rotates the drum along with arm 37 to the position shown in Figure 6, that is, the advance or left-hand position. The drum 33 is urged toward rotation in clockwise direction, for instance by means of a spiral spring (not shown) and will therefore follow arm 37 during oscillation thereof in clockwise direction until the edge 41 of gear segment 44 engages stop pin 42.

When the drum and other parts assume the advance or left-hand position shown in Figure 6, the pockets of rolls 2222 are positioned to receive meat from the hopper and, as the drum rotates clockwise, the rolls 22- 22 are rotated by means of the gear segment 34 and gears 35 and 36 so that the meat will be compacted and forced into the cavity 24 in the mold plate 23.

A link 43 connects the free end of the arm 37 to the mold plate 23 by means of a pin and slot connection 44 operating as is clearly seen in Figures 5 and 6, i. e., when the link moves to the left from the position of Figure 5 to advance the mold plate 23 the lost motion at one end of the slot is first taken up and when the link moves to the right from the position of Figure 6 to retract the mold plate the lost motion at the other end of the slot is first taken up.

The drive means also includes a cam 45 (Figure 2) secured on the drive shaft of the gear reduction unit 27 for actuating the knockout disk E. The knockout disk is mounted for up and down movement by means of an upright rod 46 slidably supported in the housing 32 and carrying an arm 47 at its upper end to which the disk is secured. A spring 48 urges the rod 46 into contact with the surface of the cam and with the parts in the position of Figure 2, it will be seen that the rod is riding on the high surface of the cam to hold the knockout disk in a position above the plane of the mold plate 23.

The knockout disk is so positioned longitudinally of the machine that when the mold plate is at the end of its stroke to the left, the mold cavity 24 of the mold plate is in registry with the knockout disk as shown in Figure 6. The cam 45 has a depression 49 into which the rod 46 is spring urged so that the ejector B will drop and eject the molded patty from the mold plate onto the run of paper R as shown in Figure 6. As the cam continues to rotate, the knockout disk is raised out of the mold cavity and clears the top of the mold plate by the time the lost motion of the slot and pin connection 44 is taken up.

The run of paper R preferably consists of two sheets from two rolls 56 and 57 (Figure 1) which sheets are fed downwardly under a weighted guide roll 58, and upwardly over a guide plate 59, a guide roll 60 located at the receiving end of the table T, and finally over the table and therebeyond. The weighted guide roll 58 rides freely in upright tracks 58a and acts to keep the paper under tension. Spring clips 60a-60b (Figure 2) located at the guide roll 60 hold the paper down in contact with the table.

As seen in Figure 9, the feeder carriage PC for imparting stepwise longitudinal movement to the paper includes a rectangular base plate 61 mounted for longitudinal reciprocation in side tracks 62, 62, and a feeder plate 63 mounted for reciprocation with plate 61 and also for up and down movement with relation to the plate 61 by means of corner pins 64 riding in bushings 65 carried by the plate 61.

The pins 64 are preferably pointed so as to pierce or puncture the paper when the feeder plate 63 moves to its downward position as shown in Figures 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10. With the pins in this position the paper and patties carried thereby will be held and advanced when the feeder carriage is moved toward the left. The longitudinally extending grooves 66 may be provided in the top surface of the table T to accommodate the projecting points of the pins. An adjusting screw 67 is provided in the feeder plate 63 to adjust the amount of projection of the pins 64.

As best seen in Figure 3, the run of paper is of width greater than the diameter of the patty so as to provide free paper on either side of each patty. The feed stroke of the feeder carriage FC is sufficient to provide a space between adjacent patties P on the run of paper R which is approximately twice the amount of free paper at a side of the patty so that when the paper is cut into individual sheets (in the manner hereinafter appearing) the sheets will be substantially square.

Back and forth movement is imparted to the feeder carriage FC by means of a link 70 drivingly connected at one end to the drive arm 37 by slot and pin connection 71 and connected at its other end to a rock lever 72 secured on a rock shaft 73 journalled in bearings 7474. The rock shaft 73 also carries a similar rock lever 75 at its opposite end (Figures 3, 4 and 8). The rock levers 72 and 75 are connected by links 76 and 77, see Figs. 2 and 5, to a transverse brace 78 which is secured as by screws 79 to longitudinally extending side bars 80-84) slidably supported on fixed cross members 81*31 of .4 the frame work F of the machine. Top cross plates 82- 82 prevent upward displacement of the side bars 80.

When the rock levers 72 and 75 are rocked back and forth under influence of the drive arm 37, the side bars 8i}80 are reciproeated and this motion is transmitted to the base plate 61 by means of pins 61a-61a carried in the upstanding lugs 61b61b of the base plate, which pins engage grooves 83-83 in the side bars 8080 (Figures 3, 6, 7 and 10).

Figure 5 shows the base plate 61 in its retracted (or right hand) position and the feeder plate 63 in its down position. The pins 64 have pierced the paper and the drive arm 37 is at the end of its back stroke so that the slack in the pin and slot connection 71 has been taken up.

The drive arm 37, in moving from the position of Figure 5 to the position of Figure 6, first takes up the slack in the connection 71 and then moves link 70 and feeder carriage FC toward the left. During such motion the pins of the feeder carriage hold and advance the paper and the patties carried thereby.

It is desirable to have the patties spaced apart with a predetermined length of paper therebetween and since such spacing of the patties requires a paper advance stroke shorter than the stroke required to bring the mold plate cavity into registry with the knockout disk E, part of the stroke of the drive arm 37 must be idle. The lost motion connection 71 accomplishes this end.

Referring to Figure 9, it will be seen that the pins 64 are undercut at above the points 91 in order to provide a shoulder against which the paper rests under the weight of the patty when it has been advanced to the overhung position of Figure 6, thus preventing the paper and patty from dropping off the pins.

Reverting now to the knockout disk E and its actuating cam 45 and rod 46, it is pointed out that the rod 46 has a collar 92 secured thereon for actuating a U-shaped lever 93 (Figures 6 and 8), which is pivotally mounted on the end portions of the rock shaft 73. The transversely extending knife K, pivoted at 94 on the lever 93, is positioned adjacent the end of the table T but is held out of contact therewith by a stop lug 95 toward which the knife is urged by a spring 96. Shear bar 97 is secured to the rear edge of the feeder plate 63 and rests on the paper when the feeder plate is in the down position of Figures 5 and 6. When the feeder plate is advanced toward the left (Figure 6), the shear bar is positioned opposite the knife and cooperates therewith in severing the end portion of the paper.

When the rod 46 rides into the depression 49 of the cam 45 (Figure 2) the knife end of the lever 93 rocks upwardly and the knife shears the paper as seen in Figure 6, it being noted that the knife is yieldingly urged toward the shear bar 97 by the spring 96. As shown in Figure 4 the knife edge is preferably inclined so as to shear rather than tear the paper.

The feeder plate 63 is fastened to the core 101 of an electromagnet mounted on the base plate 61 by means of studs 102 which pass through openings in the feeder plate. At the end of the feed stroke of the feeder carriage the electromagnet is energized, in a manner hereinafter appearing, to raise the feeder plate 63 to its upward position and strip the paper off the pins. At the end of the return stroke of the feeder carriage, the electromagnet is de-energized so that the feeder plate drops and its pins pierce the paper on the table.

As thus far described, the operation of the machine is as follows: starting from the position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5, oscillation of the drive arm 37 to the left causes rotation of the rolls 22 in their meat compacting direction and moves the mold plate 23 to the left to advance the previously compacted patty in the mold cavity into vertical alignment with the knockout disk E. During this movement of the drive arm the feeder carriage PC, with its pins pierced through and holding the paper (and straddling the patty thereon) is moved to the left to ad- Vance the run of paper toward the position of Figure 6.

Just before the drive arm 37 reaches the end of its leftward (advancing) stroke the knockout disk E starts to move down in its ejecting stroke under control of cam 45 and rod 46 and the knife K starts to move up in its shearing stroke under control of cam 45, collar 92 and lever 93. However, since the depression 49 in the cam is very abrupt and since the rod 46 is spring-urged toward the cam, there is a quick-snap final ejecting action of the knockout disk and a quick-snap shearing action of the knife K at the very end of the advancing stroke of the drive arm.

As best seen in Figure 6, the lever 93 engages a switch 8-1 at the end of the advance or leftward stroke of arm 37 and the associated parts, and closes the circuit to energize the electromagnet 100. This circuit includes a hold relay (not shown) to maintain electromagnet 104) energized until switch 8-2 is closed in a manner discussed below. Upon energization of electromagnet 100 the core 101 rises and lifts the feeder plate 63 so as to strip the severed paper portion and associated patty from the holding pins 64 by engagement of the paper with the sleeves 65 on the base plate 61. The stripped paper and patty drop by gravity onto the gate mechanism G.

On the return stroke, the drive arm 37 and the associated parts first take up the slack in the pin and slot connections 44 and 71 and then move the carriage FC toward the right (Figure 7) with electromagnet 100 still energized because of the hold relay. At the end of thereturn stroke of the carriage an abutment 105 on the right hand side bar 80 (as viewed in Figure 4) closes switch S-2 and thus releases the hold relay to de-energize the solenoid 100 and permit the feeder plate 63 and pins 64 to drop (see Figure 5) so that the pins puncture the paper around the next patty in position to advance the paper and patty during the next feed stroke of the carriage.

Referring now to the stacking and packaging of the patties into cartons or containers, the gate mechanism G assembles the patties in a stack with adjacent patties separated by two sheets of paper R2. When the stack includes a predetermined number of patties, the gate is tripped (by control means C discussed below) to deliver the stack of patties into a carton (Figure It is preferable to employ two sheets of paper R2 between adjacent patties in a stack in order to prevent the patties from sticking together and facilitate removal thereof from the cartons.

The gate mechanism G (Figures 2, 4, 8 and 10) comprises a pair of movable platforms 110, 111 pivoted on the frame work F by rock shafts 112113 and adapted to be operated by an electromagnet 114, the core 115 of which is connected to the platform 111 by strap 116, link 117, and lever 118 fixed to the rock shaft 113. Lever 119, secured on the rock shaft 113, is operatively connected to platform 110 by a link 120 and a lever 121 fixed to the rock shaft 112. A spring 122 urges the gate mechanism toward closed position. A stop, such as ,the extension 123 of link 117, is provided to limit the upward movement of the platforms or gates.

Just before the carriage FC reaches the end of its feed stroke the finger 124 carried by the side bar 80 (see Figures 3 and 4) actuates the switch S-3 so as to deenergize the electromagnet 114. When the gate mechanism is open (after discharge of a stack of patties), contact of finger 124 with switch 8-3 will permit the spring 122 to close the gates in preparation for the imminent delivery of a patty thereto. When the gate mechanism is already closed, the finger 124 harmlessly contacts switch S-3 without changing the position of the parts.

As the carriage continues to the end of its stroke, the finger 125 closes the switch S-4 (Figures 3 and 4) to actuate an indexing or stepping switch 126 (Figure 1).

The indexing switch 126, included in the control mech- 6 r anism C, is adapted to close a circuit for energizing the gate electromagnet 114 after a predetermined number of successive step actuations by contact of finger with switch 8-4. For example, if ten is selected as the number of patties per stack, the indexing switch 126 will cause energization of the electromagnet 114 upon completion of every tenth feed stroke of the carriage. After each actuation the indexing switch 126 reverts to its initial condition and also effects actuation of a second indexing switch 127.

This second indexing switch 127 controls the carton turntable S which comprises an upright central shaft 131, a driving yoke 132 fixed to the shaft and carrying a lower carton supporting plate 133, an upper carton guiding plate 134 and a switch actuating disk 135 secured to shaft 131, and a motor 136 (and gear reduction unit 137) drivingly connected to the shaft 131.

As shown, the supporting plate 133 and guiding plate 134 accommodate ten evenly spaced cartons. Positioning tabs 138 are provided on the supporting plate 133 for properly positioning the bottoms of the cartons and notched plates 139 supported from the upper guide plate 134 by studs 140 position the tops of the cartons by engaging opposite upper corners.

The ta'bs 138 and plates 139 are arranged to position the cartons with their sides at 45 angles to the edges of the paper sheets R-2 as is clearly shown in Figures 3 and 8, i. e., the corners 141 of the cartons are oriented in the center of the straight edges 142 of the square paper sheets R-2. This arrangement of the boxes with relation to the paper squares is of importance in providing for neat packing of the patties in the boxes without contact of the patties with the box walls. That this is so will be seen from the following.

The squares of paper are larger than the cross-sectional area of the boxes in order to provide a margin of paper which can lap up across the edge of each patty and protect it from contact with the side wall of the box. However, if the papers were oriented with relation to the boxes so that the corners of the papers were directly aligned with the corners of the boxes, the marginal portion of all four sides of each paper would have to bend upwardly during insertion of the patties into a box. Such bending of the paper would not occur uniformly and would almost surely cause buckling, etc., which would lead to misalignment of the patties in the boxes.

In contrast, by the arrangement described above, only the four triangular corner portions of the papers are required to bend upwardly during insertion of a stack of patties into a box. Such bending of the four corner flaps takes place easily, uniformly and neatly upon contact of the corner portions with the straight sides of the box.

It is here noted that the gate mechanism G performs a special function in addition to the stacking and delivery functions already described. It will be appreciated that, if the gate mechanism were entirely eliminated, the patties and associated papers would drop one by one into the carton positioned below the feeder carriage discharge station. However, the relation of the mass of a single patty to the surface area of the associated papers during free-fall of the patty would be such that there would be a tendency for such a single patty to follow an irregular rather than vertical downward path. Under such conditions irregularity and unevenness of the packaging in the cartons would be likely to occur.

The gate mechanism described avoids the above mentioned difficulty by accumulating patties in a stack such that the combined mass of the patties is sufficient to insure straight and vertical dropping of the assembly. In other words, while the surface area exposed to wind pressure during free-fall of a stack is not substantially greater than that during free-fall of a single patty and paper, the mass of the stack is substantially greater than the mass of single patty with the result that any tendency for the patties to waver during the drop thereof into a carton is virtually eliminated.

As each stack of patties is discharged into a carton, the second indexing switch 127 is actuated (by indexing switch 126) through one step, and when a predetermined number of stacks has been discharged (appropriate to the number of stacks to be loaded into a box), the indexing switch 127 closes a circuit to start the motor 136 and also closes a circuit to momentarily energize a lock solenoid 150 (Figure 1).

The core 152 of solenoid 156 is connected to a lock pin 153, which is urged by a spring 154 toward engagement with one of the index holes 155 evenly spaced around the carton supporting plate 133 (see Figures 3 and 8). Upon withdrawal of pin 153 from an index hole 155, and after the motor 136 starts the plate 133 to rotate, the lock solenoid 150 being de-energized, the lock pin 153 rides on the lower surface of the plate 133 until the next hole 155 is brought into registry with the pin. Thereupon, the pin enters the hole and locks the plate in a new indexed position. Switch actuating disk 135 rotates with plate 133 to bring circumferentially arranged buttons 156 (spaced from each other to correspond to the spacing of the holes 155) successively into engagement with switch S-S so as to stop the motor 136 each time the pin 153 enters a hole 155 and stops rotation of the plate 133.

Each rotational step of plate 133 advances a filled carton and brings the next empty carton into position below the gate mechanism.

Turning to the modification shown in Figures 11 and 12, it will be seen that the overall arrangement of the run of paper R and feeder carriage FC is the same as that just discussed. However, in this embodiment the feeder carriage is connected to and driven by the reciprocable mold plate 23. A link 160 interconnects an ear 161 on plate 23 and an ear 163 on the base plate 61m of the carriage, the latter connection being by means of a pin and slot device 162. Base plate 61m may be provided with a notch 164 adjacent its forward end and a notch 165 adjacent its rearward end for cooperation with a spring detent 166 fixed to the side track 62. When the mold plate 23 is in the retracted position of Figure 11, the detent 166 seats in the forward notch 164, and when the mold plate is in the advanced position of Figure 12, the detent seats in the rearward notch 165.

During movement of the mold plate 23 from its retracted position (Figure 11) to its advanced position (Figure 12) first the slack in the pin and slot connection 162 is taken up, next the holding action of the spring detent 166 in the notch 164 is overcome, and then the feeder carriage moves to advanced position where the spring detent seats in the notch 165. With the feeder carriage in advanced position, the knife 167 is actuated to cut the paper. In this embodiment, the knife is actuated by a solenoid 168 controlled by a switch S6 which is closed when the carriage reaches the end of its advancing stroke.

On the return stroke of the mold plate 23, the slack in the pin and slot connection 162 is taken up, the holding action of the spring detent is overcome, the switch S6 is opened to de-energize the solenoid 168 and retract the knife, and the feeder carriage is moved to its retracted position.

With reference to the pin and slot connection 71 of the form of drive of Figures 1 to and the pin and slot connection 162 of Figures 11 and 12, it is to be understood that the length of the slots can be varied to suit the desired spacing of the patties on the run of paper and in instances where the desired spacing of the patties equals the stroke of the mold plate 23, slack need not be pro- 'vided in the pin connections.

The number of patties in a stack and the number of stacks to a carton can be varied to suit particular requirements. Also, the number of cartons carried by the supporting means S may be varied as desired.

I claim:

1. In a packaging machine the combination of: drive means; supply means for supplying two strips of thin sheet material; guide means adapted to guide the strips from said supply means into surface contact with each other and to define a double-layer run of sheet material; a loading station, a holding station and a discharge station through which said run is passed; said run in the loading station being adapted to receive an object to be packaged which is placed thereon; holding means adapted to engage and hold said run in the holding station in the region of the object carried thereon and advance same stepwise into the discharge station; severing and disengaging means in the discharge station adapted to sever the end portions of the strips of said run behind the object carried thereon, to disengage the run from the holding means, and to discharge as a unit the severed portions and the object carried thereon; stacking and ejecting means adapted to receive the objects and associated severed portions successively discharged, to stack the same to form a stack of objects separated from each other by a pair of severed portions, and to periodically eject a stack composed of a predetermined number of objects and severed portions; package conveyor mechanism adapted to bring packages successively into position to receive ejected stacks; and means interconnecting the drive means with the holding means, the severing and disengaging means, the stacking and ejecting means and the package conveyor mechanism and providing for operation thereof in phase.

2. A packaging machine according to claim 1 in which said stacking and ejecting means comprise a movable platform adapted to support the objects and associated severed portions delivered thereto, means. for moving said movable platform out of supporting relation to the objects and severed portions, and timing means adapted to initiate movement of the movable platform after the said predetermined number of objects and severed portions are delivered thereto.

3. In a packaging machine; means for supplying an elongated run of sheet material, mechanism for placing objects to be packaged in a series on the run of sheet material; a plurality of pins mounted above and extending toward the sheet material; said pins being spaced from each other so as to generally surround an object on the sheet material therebelow; said pins and sheet material being adapted for relative movement toward and away from each other; said pins in the position toward the sheet material being adapted to engage and hold the sheet material; and control means providingfor movement of the pins to said position to engage and hold the sheet material and thereafter providing for conjoint movement of the group of pins and the engaged sheet material in direction to advance said run.

4. A packaging machine according to claim 3 and further including abutment means associated with at least one of said pins, said abutment means and associated pin being adapted for relative movement in direction to bring the sheet material engaged by the pin into contact with the abutment means, said control means further providing for initiation of the relative movement be tween the pin and abutment means after said movement of the group of pins to advance the run, whereby to eifect disengagement of the pin from the sheet material upon completion of the advance of the run.

5. A packing machine according to claim 3 in which the end portions of the pins include holding means for holding the sheet material when the pins are in position to engage the sheet material.

6. In a packaging machine, supply means for supplying a run of sheet material, support means underlying a portion of said run, pick-up means adapted to reciprocate between a pick-up position opposite said support means and a discharge position beyond said support means, said pick-up means being adapted to engage a section of said 9 run in the pick-up position and to advance said section into the discharge position and sustain said section therein, and mechanism for disengaging the pick-up means from the sheet material in the discharge position.

7. A packaging machine according to claim 6 and further including severing means adapted to sever sequentially the sections of the run upon their advance into the discharge position.

8. A construction according to claim 7 in which the severing means comprises a knife and a shear 'bar located on opposite sides of said run and adapted for periodic relative motion toward and away from each other.

9. In a packaging machine; means for supplying a run of sheet material, mechanism for placing objects to be packaged in a series on the run of sheet material; a first plate mounted in spaced relation to said sheet material and adapted to reciprocate between a pickup position and a discharge position in a plane above the series of objects and generally parallel to the sheet material; a second plate mounted above and for reciprocation with said first plate; a plurality of pins fixed to the second plate and extending toward the sheet material and, for each such pin, an aligned aperture in the first plate through which the pin may protrude; said pins being spaced from each other so as to generally surround an object on the sheet material therebelow; said pins and second plate being adapted to travel toward and away from the first plate between an extended position in which the pins protrude through the apertures in the first plate and puncture the sheet material and a retracted position in which the pins are out of contact with the sheet materialj and control means providing for travel of the pins and second plate to said extended position when the plates assume said pickup position and for travel of the pins and second plate to said retracted position after the plates assume said discharge position.

10. A packaging machine according to claim 9 in which the pins include holding means for holding the sheet material when in said extended position.

11. A construction according to claim 10 in which the holding means comprises shoulders on said pins on the outboard side of the group of pins, said shoulders being arranged, to extend below the sheet material upon said puncture thereof.

12. In a packaging machine; means for supplying a run of sheet material, mechanism for placing objects to be packaged in a series on the run of sheet material; a. plurality of pins mounted above and extending toward the sheet material; said pins being spaced from each other so as to generally surround an object on the sheet material therebelow; said pins being adapted for conjoint movement in two senses, the first being between an extended position in which the end portions thereof engage the sheet material and a retracted position out of contact with the sheet material, and the second being between a pickup position and a discharge position; and control means providing for movement of the pins to said extended position upon assumption of said pickup position and for movement of the pins to said retracted position upon assumption of said discharge position.

13. In a packaging machine; means for supplying an elongated run of flexible sheet material, mechanism for placing objects to be packaged in a series on the run of sheet material; a plurality of pins mounted above and extending toward the sheet material; said pins being spaced from each other to form a group generally surrounding an object on the sheet material therebelow; shoulder means on the end portions of the pins on the outboard side of the group of pins, said pins and the sheet material being adapted for relative movement toward and away from each other; said pins in the position toward the sheet material being adapted to puncture the material and thrust said shoulder means through the material to a position below the material; and control means providing for movement of the pins to puncture the sheet material and thereafter providing for conjoint movement of the group of pins and the punctured portion of sheet material in direction to advance said run.

14. A construction according to claim 13 and further including support means underlying and supporting a portion of the run of sheet material, in which construction the pins are adapted to puncture the portion of the sheet material supported on said support means, said pins being further adapted to advance said run out of supporting relation to said support means, whereupon the weight of the object resting on the sheet material engaged by said pins will cause said material to flex downwardly and bring the edges of the punctured holes in the sheet material into supporting relation With said shoulders.

15. A construction according to claim 14 in which the support means comprises a substantially flat support plate of sufi'icient dimension transverse to the run of material to provide for support of the sheet material substantially throughout the entire width thereof, said support plate including grooves disposed parallel to and in registry with said pins during movement of the group of pins and the engaged sheet material in direction to advance said run.

16. Packaging equipment comprising, supply means for supplying a run of sheet material, a support underlying and defining a portion of said run, feed mechanism for placing objects to be packaged in a series on the sheet material opposite said support, means for feeding the sheet material along said run over and beyond said support and for sequentially engaging and holding the portion of the sheet material adjacent each object to maintain the sheet material in the line of said run during feed thereof beyond said support, means for disengaging the holding means from the portion of the sheet material adjacent a given object when said given object is in a position beyond said support, and severing means adapted to sever said portions from the sheet material prior to the disengagement of the holding means therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent Holly Apr. 9, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,845,763 August 5,.1958

Llewellyn Wonsidler Column 1, line 23 for "pckaging" read m packaging line 35, for "Oa Ob" read m 60a====60a of references cited, add the following column 3, column 10, line 54, list 2,545,451 Elsaesser Mar 20, 1951 Signed and sealed this 28th day of October 1958.,

(SEAL) ittest:

'QARL H AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Lttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

